Holy Ground

The Lord can even use Apple Music to speak to us. I know, surprising since most people have Spotify, and I am one of the few loyal Apple Music customers. But, the Lord can use it all!

I was letting my playlist run wild in my prayer time recently, and bringing to Jesus a lot of fears and insecurities that had been brewing in my heart for a few weeks. Fears of the future, of transitions, of adapting to new places and people and what all these things will mean for my life in 2, 4…6 months from now. Amidst what one could only call my “yapping” to the Lord about all the million things on my mind, I became aware of a song playing that I hadn’t heard in a while, “Holy Ground”. I listen as the words “Holy Ground” repeat over and over and simply write down in my notes app, “The place where I am standing is Holy Ground”. I didn’t have time to keep praying about it and, quite frankly, maybe wanted to postpone the deep revelations I knew Jesus was about to bring to light, and so I just left it there in my notes app to come back to later.

Coming back to it this morning, Jesus has a lot to say.

“The place where you are standing is Holy Ground” (Ex 3:5) God says to Moses from the burning bush. This is where I first remember hearing mention of “Holy Ground” in scripture so, starting there seemed appropriate. As I thought about the context of God speaking these words to Moses, I came to realize how relatable Moses’ situation and questions are. Moses, in this exact moment, was in exile. He was in the wilderness of Sinai, far from the promised land. The actual land he was on was rugged, barren. How in the world could this be Holy Ground?

Don’t we feel this way so often? This is probably why the mention of “holy ground” made me slam my journal shut and distract myself. Because to be honest, where I am standing right now, my present reality, doesn’t feel like what I imagine “holy ground” to feel like. It feels unstable and rocky. It feels a little like quicksand sometimes, threatening to pull me under if I make the wrong movement or step. I imagine this is similar to what Moses might have felt on the Holy Ground God called Him too.

So. Let’s start with what it means to be “holy”. To be Holy means to be “set apart”, and for a specific land or place to be considered “holy”, scripture and tradition teaches us that holy places are places where “God dwells”. 

If God is good, if God is faithful and if God is in full control of my life, then this moment, this present reality, where I am today is Holy; it is set apart. God dwells here, in my life, in this moment and space and time - right? 

“And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.” (Ex 3:6). Me too Moses, me too. Why? Because actually, and this is really hard to admit to myself, I don’t want this to be holy ground. I am afraid that if I look around me and look up to God where I am, I will be disappointed and hurt. Or maybe, if I start to get comfortable, I will look to God and He will just take it all away.

And so I hide. I hide behind self-reliance. I hide behind my desire to control and start to grasp at people and situations in my life to try and make their futures the way I want them to be. I hide behind my walls of self-preservation because it is easier than being vulnerable and opening myself up to rejection.

How does the Lord respond to our hiddenness? He reminds us of who He is. Of His identity.

“I am who I am… The Lord, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob… this is My name forever” (Ex 3: 14-15)

The God who has always been faithful, the God who has saved me and redeemed me over and over again in each and every season, this God dwells here, where I am, right now. 

He is not just the God of my past, or in my future where I wish I was. He is inviting me to recognize Him in my life right now. To see each person and place and circumstance of the ground I am on as a gift from Him. To see my present reality as a time “set apart” from others. A time and place just for me to grow closer to Jesus, who is the only person that can make this reality “holy”. 

I don’t know the places and circumstances of your life right now; the sufferings and hardships you may be facing. The calamities and tragedies you may be enduring. But what I do know is that God dwells with you in this exact moment, in this exact season. He is the God of our ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Issac… forever. 

Everything you need in this season our Lord wants to give to you. Because He is here. And because He is here, we don’t need to hide. Because He is here, we have no need to fear. Because He is here, we are on Holy Ground.